Until recently Donald Trump claimed his strategy on North Korea was working, and that Beijing was stepping up the pressure on Pyongyang to convince it to ditch its weapons programmes. But last week he took a closer look at Chinese data — and did not like what he saw.
“Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40 per cent in the first quarter,” the US president tweeted. “So much for China working with us — but we had to give it a try!”
The dismay may be new but the data are not. Mr Trump was quoting a growth figure announced in April by the China Customs Administration which, along with subsequent monthly figures, shows Chinese measures are having less effect than Washington had hoped.
您已阅读15%（697字），剩余85%（4069字）包含更多重要信息，订阅以继续探索完整内容，并享受更多专属服务。